Joe Biden

Joe Biden, Enjoying the Campaign Trail

By Perry Bacon, Jr.
AKRON, Ohio -- As he might put, Sen. Joe Biden is literally enjoying running for vice president, and he's not just saying that as an applause line.

While Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. John McCain are avoiding interviews with the press corps that follows them and Biden's running mate Sen. Barack Obama projects such an aura of cool liberal columnists are begging him to get more animated, the Delaware senator is at times gleefully expansive.

"My staff says we have time for one more question, so let's take three more," he declared at a recent rally.

He stays behind at each event to shake hands and takes pictures with anyone who wants, and he's brought his personal touch on the road -- close-talking, back-tapping and kissing older women on the cheek.

He occasionally tosses a football on the tarmac before he takes off to his next city. His speeches include loads of references to his days playing high school football, quotes from his mother and father and his favorite terms: "literally" (usually when he means "figuratively"), "ladies and gentlemen" and "I mean this sincerely."

And he's brought along a bunch of long-time aides on the road, including his niece Missy, who is running his reelection campaign for the Senate, where Biden has token opposition.

Biden seems to enjoy having journalists following him around, if only to have more people listen to his running commentary on whatever springs to his mind. A CBS reporter following Biden around estimated Biden has done 80 interviews since he was named vice president, compared to two by Palin.

But most of these interviews are with local television stations, as campaign aides are wary of shifting attention from what he says on stage. He holds few formal press conferences with the reporters on the campaign trail.

But Biden loves to chat. As he toured the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, here today, two executives of the Hall talked to him about their favorite players. Biden declared at different times his love for the New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers and the Colts, at least before they moved from Baltimore to Indianapolis.

Then, as he was discussing how much bigger football players are than they used to be, he approached two reporters who were standing nearby taking notes.

"You look liked you played some, man," he said to one of the reporters.

As the reporter said "no, I didn't," the candidate moved closer, tapped the reporter's upper chest and said "you need to work on your pecs." The reporters laughed.

Biden then started talking about how he stayed up late to watch the Philadelphia Eagles-Dallas Cowboys game on Monday night, even though he had to do a bunch of interviews the next day on morning news shows.

"So I said, 'I've got a big day tomorrow,' I said, 'I've got to go to sleep.' I got in the room, started searching the channels and they were replaying the Eagles game and I watched the whole damn game," he said. "I don't know what time it was, 2 o'clock in the morning. I'm bleary-eyed and thinking where the heck's my speech."

Biden has had to shift from his usual ebullient tone in his speeches. When he was first picked, he said he would be a different kind of vice-presidential nominee.

"I'm not going to be an attack dog," Biden told USA Today his first week on the campaign trail, noting that he and Obama had agreed that the Delaware senator would focus on being a positive advocate for Obama. "That was part of the deal. I'm not going to fool with my brand."

But as Obama's campaign has shifted towards a more negative tone against McCain, Biden's tone has become louder and more fiery. His long rifts about the chemistry between his wife Jill and Michelle Obama and his excitement about being on the ticket have been replaced over the last few days with an at times careful reading of a detailed list of quotes from McCain and his advisers to cast them as "out of touch."

He pronounced himself "angry" at how the Republicans have much damaged the country in his mind.

But on the trail most of the time, Biden appears anything but angry. One of longtime aides said Biden had always dreamed of traveling with an entourage and huge crowds, but assumed that opportunity was over after his failed presidential run this year.

Instead, the Delaware senator is still campaigning -- and sharing his every thought.

After he talked about staying up late to watch the Eagles while at the football museum, he had more to add.

He approached the reporters and, in a low voice, said, "I'm not allowed to say this, but I also like the Giants."

More tax cuts for the middle class means more money to buy stuff, which means companies will do better.

Trickle down economics hasn't worked, folks. Giving the richest people more and more money hasn't helped the economy. The fat cat CEO's have been jumping ship with millions from Enron to today’s Wall Street, and leaving us middle class ordinary tax payers paying for government buyouts of huge companies. Folks, IT AIN'T FAIR. We don't have to stand for this. Make your voice heard and your vote COUNT!!!!

Obama will CUT your taxes if you make less than $ 226,981 per year. Obama will NOT raise your taxes if you make under $603,402 per year. Obama will only raise your taxes if you make more than $603,403 a year. If you make less than $111,645 a year, Obama will CUT your taxes by between 1.8 % and 5.5% while McCain will only cut your taxes by between 0.2%, which is hardly anything, to 1.4%. SO IF YOU MAKE LESS $111,646 PER YEAR, YOU WILL DEFINITELY GET MORE TAX CUT FROM OBAMA THAN MCCAIN.

McCain will give the biggest tax cuts to those making more than $2.8 MILLION a year. He will give you a tax cut of only 0.2 to 1.4% if you make less than $111,645 a year, while Obama will give you a tax cut of between 1.8% and 5.5%. Why should McCain give those making more than 2.8 million a year so much more of a tax cut than those making less than $111,645 a year? That’s not fair. So if you make more than $111,646 per year and nothing matters to you more than your taxes, then and only then should you vote for McCain.

CHECK THE FACTS OUT BEFORE YOU SHORT-CHANGE YOURSELF, FOLKS!

Posted by: J. | September 21, 2008 4:19 PM

Can anyone tell me how Obama's experience makes him better qualified to be president than McCain or even Palin or Biden? When I compare all 4 resumes, disregarding race or gender, it is very clear that Obama has the weakest resume by far of any of the candidates. Is this really who you want as our next president?

Posted by: usathink | September 20, 2008 9:15 PM

Children heard John McCain Ads on the radio and they heard McCain said, he approved this message. Children woop, and said he sounds like a gay. I realized, he is really sounds like an irresponsible whiny little girl. Oh! Well, even children doesn't approve McCain. Vote for Obama for our children.

Posted by: goldieluck | September 20, 2008 3:13 AM

If Obama loses there will be Sectarian violence right here in America. Look lets do the smart thing Vote for Obama avoid the Drama. Let Obama implement all the change he wants. If America really thinks the country is bad off then Obama taking the country down an opposite path then it is on cannot be a bad thing and if it is a Bad thing then Bush popularity will go up and Obama will come crashing down. Then we can Impeach him.

Posted by: leapfrog | September 19, 2008 10:50 PM

You Obots are nuts. Do you not realize that every position Obama holds are the same ones JJimmy Carter held? He was such a great president NOT. This financal crises is a direct result of Clinton's repeal of the Glass-Steigel act in 1999 which forced banks to make high risk loans because asking people about their ability to pay was discrimintory. Senator Dodd was the #1 recipiant of money from Freddie Mac Fanny Mae and Obama was number 2.

Posted by: cccc | September 19, 2008 10:11 PM

Obama knows that Biden is absolutely Presidential material, and to say "Joe Biden can step in and be President" is one of the most truthful things being said on the campaign trail.

Obama doesn't have to filter Biden. Unlike Palin, Biden is the real deal - no handling needed, no coaching, no prescreening of questions. Had it been Joe who got the nomination, I'd be just as happy.

That's funny, Scott. McCain's campaign is practically run by the very people who are responsible for the mess - the lobbyists who Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae liked to shower with money. And all McCain can do is come up with a tenuous connection between Franklin Raines and Obama (He was NOT an advisor BTW). You Republicans make me laugh. Even when you get called out on the lies, you keep dishing them out. You're still playing your games while the country is hurting. And you've got the hide to say you put country first.

Posted by: Mark O | September 19, 2008 12:10 PM

Republicans are hard-wired to learn the hard way. "Thou shall not steal" Did they not know or did they not care? They took us to Iraq with a motive to steal the Iraqi oil. They got us stuck in Iraq, can't stay can't leave. Caused Shiite Iraq unify with Shiite Iran, now Israel is even more vulnerable. They defied Pope's request not to invade Iraq. Defied UN, NATO and everyone in the world (except "coalition of drilling", of course). Because of them we are all getting punished. $10 billion per month of our money, Thousands of lost limbs & lives of our kids. If we still vote for Republican we'll have to face god's wrath or wrath of your conscience. They should lose this election only then they will learn.

****************************************
Note the date on this Politico piece by Ben Smith- OF COURSE OBAMA "NEVER HEARD OF" His Advisor Franklin Raines who took $90 Million out of Fannie Mae and ran it into the ground- I'm sure donating some to Obama- stay tuned!

Hard to find anybody in the mortgage industry who's looking real great right now, but Fannie Mae's critics, in particular, seem to have been vindicated.

By Ben Smith 11:42 AM
******************

Rezko, Ayres, Raines....nice company Barack

Posted by: Scott | September 19, 2008 8:39 AM

September 19, 2008
Abortions Do Sometimes Produce Live Births
By Mona Charen

Appearing on C-SPAN last weekend I mentioned that Barack Obama had opposed the Born Alive Infants Protection Act when he was an Illinois state senator -- a position he has attempted to deny or obfuscate ever since. The liberal blogger who appeared on the program with me erupted with indignation. She didn't deny that Obama had opposed the bill. She denied, hotly, that babies are ever born alive after an attempted abortion. Since I have actually met Gianna Jessen, who survived an attempted abortion, I invited viewers to contact me directly if they wanted evidence. My inbox has been bursting.

The denial goes very deep. Any number of e-mailers expressed their contemptuous certainty that "born alive" infants were an invention of pro-life activists. OK, enter "abortion survivors" into your browser and see what you get. Or, if you prefer a traditional media source, consult the Daily Mail in Britain. The Mail has reported that in just the past year 66 infants had been left to die after abortions in Great Britain.

When Congress was considering the Born Alive Infants Protection Act (BAIPA), a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee heard testimony from Jill Stanek and Allison Baker, two nurses at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Ill. They described several instances in which babies who were moving and breathing after induced abortions were left to die. The committee report quoted Jill Stanek: "Mrs. Stanek testified about another aborted baby who was thought to have had spina bifida, but was delivered with an intact spine. On another occasion, an aborted baby was left to die on the counter of the Utility Room wrapped in a disposable towel." The committee report also quoted Shelly Lowe, a lab technician at Bethesda North Medical Center in Cincinnati. A young woman who had undergone just the first cervix-opening phase of a partial-birth abortion gave birth in the emergency room. The doctor placed the 22-week-old baby in a specimen dish to be taken to the lab. According to the report, when Ms. Lowe "saw the baby girl in the dish she was stunned when she saw the girl gasping for air. 'I don't think I can do that,' Ms. Lowe reportedly said. 'This baby is alive.'" Lowe asked permission to hold the baby until she died. She wrapped the child she dubbed "Baby Hope" in a blanket and sang to her. Breathing room air without any other supports, Baby Hope lived for three hours.

I've received a number of letters from viewers. This one caught my eye: "I am a pediatrician. When I was a pediatric resident on a neonatal intensive care rotation, we were routinely called to ... resuscitate infants. In one instance I was called to pronounce a baby dead who had been born an hour earlier after a failed abortion. We were not called to resuscitate the baby immediately after the delivery as the intent was abortion. ... I write to attest that babies are sometimes born alive after abortion and then put aside to die."

The BAIPA was designed to ensure that in those rare cases in which a baby marked for abortion happens to survive -- that the child will be immediately accorded full human and constitutional rights. The measure passed the U.S. House by a vote 380 to 15 but was blocked in the Senate. When a "neutrality clause" was inserted to the effect that the law should not be construed to limit the scope of Roe v. Wade, the measure was passed by unanimous consent and signed into law in 2002.

At the time, Barack Obama was an Illinois state senator. An almost exact copy of the federal bill was introduced in 2001. Obama opposed it, saying, "I mean it, it would essentially bar abortions because the equal protection clause does not allow somebody to kill a child, and if this is a child, then this would be an antiabortion statute." Even though the baby would be completely separated from the mother. In 2003, the Illinois legislature added a neutrality clause to the bill, making it a virtual clone of the federal legislation. As chairman of the committee considering the bill, Obama again opposed it, saying, "... an additional doctor who then has to be called in an emergency situation and make these assessments is really designed simply to burden the original decision of the woman ..."

Barack Obama is a charming and intelligent man. But there is no other way to interpret his position on BAIPA than this: A woman who chooses an abortion is entitled to a dead child no matter what. That is an abortion extremist.

Posted by: scott | September 19, 2008 8:15 AM

Anonymous wrote: "Biden said that it was Patriotic to raise taxes. Spoken like a real Tax and Spend and Spend some more Liberal."
Now, which prez candidate once said: "Read my lips, no new taxes" then raised taxes anyway? Bush 41 (1988-1992). Which prez spebt like crazy and burned social security surplus for a stupid war in Iraq? Bush 43 (2000-2008). THINK BEFORE YOU WRITE (IF YOU CAN)!

Posted by: Anonymous | September 19, 2008 1:41 AM

Obama's democrats broke into Palin's E-mail account.

Palin Email Hacker is Son of Democrat Tennessee State Senator

Bristol Palin may be pregnant out of wedlock, but at least she's not going to jail.

David Kernell, a college student has been positively identified as the perp who hacked Sarah Palin's Yahoo account.

State Rep. Mike Kernell said today that he was aware of Internet rumors about his son being the subject of speculation that he accessed the personal e-mail of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

Asked whether he or his son, a student at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, had been contacted by authorities investigating the break-in of Palin's account, he responded:

"Me, no."

As far as his 20-year-old son, David, he said: "I can't say. That doesn't mean he has or hasn't (been contacted by investigators."

Kernell, D-Memphis, cited the father-son relationship.

He said he had talked to his son today, but that he talks to his son regularly.

He declined further comment.

Posted by: Wired | September 18, 2008 10:49 PM

I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight.....

* If you were born in and grew up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're 'exotic, different.'

* Grow up in Alaska eating moose burgers, a quintessential American story.

* If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.

* Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.

* Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.

* Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.

* If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor; spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.

* If you're total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive and next in line behind a man in his eighth decade.

* If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising two beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.

* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and then left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a true Christian.

* If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.

* If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant, you're very responsible.

* If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America's.

* If you're husband is nicknamed 'First Dude', with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.

OK, much clearer now.

Posted by: tom | September 18, 2008 10:23 PM

I like Joe Biden. He's one of the few guys out there who will tell you what he really thinks.

RE: Patriotic to pay taxes.

Hell yes, it's patriotic to pay your taxes! It's one of the most - if not THE most - tangible ways that you serve your country.

Or is all that stuff about serving your country just a bunch of chin music, O Republicans? Really. Put your money where your mouth is. The fat cats have had nice tax cuts since Bush came into office. And look at how it's helped the economy! We're in great shape now, right? WRONG.

As far as "tax and spend liberals", let me tell you something - our country is going down the tubes because of "BORROW and spend conservatives"! And I use the word conservative under protest, because the Republicans have been anything but conservative with our money!

It's ridiculous for Republicans to pull out the old "tax and spend" horse manure, because they haven't had the courage - that's right, courage - to tell the American people we have to pay for what we want.

After 12 years of the Republican ruling Congress, little ol' Nancy Pelosi becomes Speaker and tells the House members you have to pay as you go. What a concept!

But was it the big brave Republicans who exercised such fiscal responsibility? Nah, they've borrowed it all from freakin' China, for cryin' out loud. Boy, that sure makes us more secure.

It's insane! We're in debt up to our eyeballs and now we're on the hook for all these investment firms that made risky investments and got away with it because Republicans don't like regulation. But when it comes time to let the market forces cleanse the market, the R's have to bail them out because the companies are too damn big to let 'em go belly up. What a mess!

You can play the worn out "tax and spend" tune all you want. Joe Biden is telling us the truth. The money has to come from somewhere, and taxing wealthy folks is a pretty reasonable way to do it.

Posted by: Peter W. | September 18, 2008 9:15 PM

Sen Joe Biden is a good man. I like the fact hes speaking to the media and isn't afraid too so the reporters can ask him the questions that a lot of us can't ask because we don't have access to them. Palin will not answer questions. She is afraid of reporters? 49 days and we still don't know her? Sen Joe Biden is a man of the people and it shows

Posted by: Walter | September 18, 2008 9:05 PM

Palin only 2 interviews!!!! What The Hell!!! Why, what is her problem?

Posted by: BOBSTER | September 18, 2008 8:55 PM

Biden's openness comes from knowing the issues and having strong clear opinions. He also likes people and understands them. He is the real McCoy. I mean, he has nothing to hide - what you see is what you get, and its a lot. Contrast that to Palin who pales in comparison. Two interviews, not vetted yet. No ad lib talking to anyone. Even the Town Hall, where they give out the questions you are permitted to ask with the tickets, McCain answers the questions and Palin answers what she was told. I am ready, I am ready, I am ready, I am ready..... Like a wind up toy.

To the first poster who posted "

Biden said that it was Patriotic to raise taxes.

Spoken like a real Tax and Spend and Spend some more Liberal.

Posted by: Anonymous | September 18, 2008 8:12 PM"

No, what he said was it is patriotic for the wealthy to pay their fair share of taxes. I suspect you are one of those who are less than patriotic in that regard. He did not say more taxes, but current taxes. You are definitely of the McCain Pinocchio school of thought. Just lie lie lie. Truth be damned....

Posted by: Paul Stewart | September 18, 2008 8:41 PM

wow biden has done nearly 80 interviews since he was nominated compared to palins 2 interviews.now ask yourself whos more qualified and who has more experience.i'll give you a hint *cough biden *cough.

Posted by: riley | September 18, 2008 8:25 PM

Biden said that it was Patriotic to raise taxes.

Spoken like a real Tax and Spend and Spend some more Liberal.

Posted by: Anonymous | September 18, 2008 8:12 PM

ANAKARONA:

Make sure you "vote" ONCE, and only if you are legally entitled to vote ; )

Posted by: JakeD | September 18, 2008 7:45 PM

Manolet
LOL - Democrat? I think not. Bitter, perhaps. How sad that you can't move on. Sorry, darling, our girl didn't win. Can't exactly sub in this weak excuse for a woman, can we? Honestly? She uses tax payer money to redecorate her office to the tune of 50K, without going through the appropriate channels...golly, WHO does that sound like (pesky ovesights & checks and balances), used her authority to push through a sports arena that none of the kids can get to because the property wasn't purchased first (silly details!) and now sits waaaayyyy out on the edge of town, and of course we have the billing of the tax payers for kids to travel and for staying..AT HOME!
I think we've had enough of that sort of fiscal mindset, wouldn't you agree, dear?

Posted by: Penny | September 18, 2008 6:55 PM

VOTE FOR BARACK OBAMA... VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!

Posted by: ANAKARONA | September 18, 2008 6:49 PM

A good point is raised here.
You have to wonder why McCain and Palin are so angry. Their creepy friends have been in power for eight years ... They should be gloating about how wonderful things are with their man in charge.
If anyone should be angry, it's a Americans who are losing their jobs or taking pay cuts and paying more for groceries and gas. Meantime, we're fighting some stupid war that seems to have no possible gain for anyone but the egos of George W. Bush and his old man.

Posted by: Jeff s. | September 18, 2008 6:22 PM

JOE BIDEN, THE OLD WASHINGTON POLITICIAN represents "More of the Same" with his dull and invisible personality.

OBAMA FRACTURED AND DIVIDED THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY WHEN HE REJECTED THE CHOICE OF 18 MILLION DEMOCRATS and instead of choosing Hillary Clinton for VP, he chose an old Washington politician, and by this grave mistake in choice, negated the flag of "change" he had been waiving and replaced it with the flag of "more of the same".

On the other side, THE MAVERICK STOLE THE MANTRA OF CHANGE FROM BARACK WHEN HE SELECTED SARAH PALIN, A WOMAN REFORMER FOR VP, who gained the respect of the State she governs as well as of the nation governors.

THE MCCAIN/PALIN TICKET HAS GIVEN HOPE FOR THE FUTURE OF AMERICA TO ALL THE 18 MILLION FORMER HILLARY SUPPORTERS who now have a very compelling reason to vote for the republican ticket, as a way to put their country first by electing a president that has the qualifications, experience and love for our country and at the same time elect a woman to the White House as equal partners in governance and leadership of our country.
Country First!
DEMOCRATS FOR MCCAIN/PALIN!

Posted by: Manolete | September 18, 2008 6:11 PM

Why is is it news that Biden likes to talk? - isn't that pretty much all he does? Sometimes he even runs out of his own material ...

Posted by: Anonymous | September 18, 2008 6:10 PM

Late nights watching football, doesn't use the word "literally" correctly, throws a FOOTBALL on the tarmac! Is Joe Biden REALLY qualified to be vice president?

Posted by: Bill | September 18, 2008 6:08 PM

TODAY MORE INFORMATION ABOUT JOHN MCCAIN'S ALLEGED HOMOSEXUAL AFFAIR HAS COME OUT

Posted by: John McCain | September 18, 2008 6:06 PM

Even though they have my vote already....I have to say that this isn't exactly hard hitting jornalism. What was the point of this poof peice? To make us feel all warm and fuzzy over Joe Biden? Who cares?

Posted by: Anonymous | September 18, 2008 6:04 PM

Even though they have my vote already....I have to say that this isn't exactly hard hitting jornalism. What was the point of this poof peice? To make us feel all warm and fuzzy over Joe Biden? Who cares?

Posted by: Anonymous | September 18, 2008 6:04 PM

Even though they have my vote already....I have to say that this isn't exactly hard hitting jornalism. What was the point of this poof peice? To make us feel all warm and fuzzy over Joe Biden? Who cares?

Posted by: Anonymous | September 18, 2008 6:04 PM

So Phil Gramm, John McCain's supposedly banished economic guru and campaign chairman, has been seeking Ron Paul's endorsement. Paul's answer? Not in a million years.

Here Ron Paul is just a few minutes ago:

"I can't endorse somebody (McCain) that disagrees with me on all the major issues -- on the federal reserve system, on spending and taxes, and No Child Left Behind, and McCain-Feingold, and foreign policy especially. I mean I could never support somebody who thinks that its funny to say "bomb, bomb, bomb Iran." That to me is not somebody I could endorse ever."

Paul's strident non-endorsement is the biggest deal here, but there's another issue: what in the world is Phil Gramm doing politicking on John McCain's behalf? Hadn't he been banished to Belarus? Does this mean that John McCain now endorses Gramm's "Americans are whiners" comments?

Posted by: Bush + McCain = "W"orthless | September 18, 2008 5:36 PM

Leftwing Voter Registration Fraud On Rise

Thu, 09/18/2008 - 12:07 — Judicial Watch Blog
For the second time in as many months a left-wing community group largely funded with U.S. tax dollars has submitted fake voter registration cards, this week in a key battleground state.

The Chicago-based Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), where Barack Obama worked as a “community organizer,” has long been investigated for falsifying information to register new voters during nationwide drives and authorities are especially vigilant in a presidential election year.

This week officials in New Mexico’s most populous county (Bernalillo) notified federal authorities that more than 1,000 fraudulent voter registration cards were submitted to the clerk’s office. ACORN, which pays workers for each registration, is the prime suspect since it has handled thousands of new voter registrations in New Mexico since January.